Dr. Meeks on the Genomics of Bladder Cancer

Joshua Meeks, MD, PhD, assistant professor of urology, biochemistry, and molecular genetics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, section chief of robotic surgery, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, discusses the genomics of bladder cancer.

The framework of bladder cancer can be divided into that of muscle invasive bladder (MIBC) and non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), explains Meeks. In the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), data was compiled on gene expression profiling, whole exome sequencing, methylomics, and regulons of over 400 patients with MIBC.

Now, research is directed toward NMIBC, says Meeks. It is now known that there are less mutations that are present in NMBIC than in MIBC. Additionally, different pathways seem to be activated in these tumors that are absent in MIBC. This points to the heterogeneity of these cancers. Dealing with this heterogeneity in terms of targets and approaches is going to be the next direction in how physicians are able to orient and apply this information moving forward.